Big Time Rush
Big Time Rush (commonly abbreviated as BTR) is an American television music-themed teen sitcom based on the band of the same name. The series chronicles four high school friends from Minnesota — Kendall Knight (Kendall Schmidt), James Diamond (James Maslow), Carlos Garcia (Carlos Pena, Jr.) and Logan Mitchell (Logan Henderson) — whose lives are changed when they move to Los Angeles and become a hit-making, chart-topping boy band. The series became the second highest-rated Nickelodeon sitcom after less than a month on the air. behind iCarly, and currently attracts an average of more than three million viewers per episode debut The show was created by showrunner and executive producer, Scott Fellows, for Nickelodeon, who also created the Nickelodeon sitcom Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide. The show incorporates original music created for the show/band, due to a partnership between Nickelodeon and Sony Music to produce the series. This is the second Nickelodeon series featuring a boy band, after The Naked Brothers Band. The hour-long pilot episode, "Big Time Audition", aired as a "sneak preview" on November 28, 2009, but the regular series debuted January 18, 2010 at 8:30 pm ET with the episode "Big Time School of Rocque", to 6.8 million viewers, the higest-rated launch for a live-action series in the network's history. The series soon became the number-one live-action series on Nickelodeon, according to BigTimeRushTV.com. Premise Four hockey friends from Minnesota — Kendall Knight (Kendall Schmidt), James Diamond (James Maslow), Carlos Garcia (Carlos Pena, Jr.), and Logan Mitchell (Logan Henderson) — get the opportunity to become famous and successfully try out to be the "next great boy band." They move to Los Angeles, California, where they live at the "Palm Woods Hotel" and attend the "Palm Woods School", a special school just for actors, actresses, singers, and other performers. The boys routinely come into conflict with their overbearing, outrageous, hard-driving (but successful) producer, Gustavo Rocque (Stephen Kramer Glickman), and his well-meaning assistant Kelly Wainwright (Tanya Chisholm), while trying to impress Gustavo's boss, Arthur Griffin (Matt Riedy), so that they can become successful. Griffin is portrayed as an executive who is largely clueless about the music industry, although he is often the final decision maker, and he is also surrounded by yes-men and is overly caught up in the trappings of executive "perks". The boys also frequently come into conflict with "Mr. Bitters" (David Anthony Higgins), the manager of the Palm Woods, a self-important middle manager who delights in catching Palm Woods residents in the act of breaking the (many) Palm Woods rules. He constantly threatens to evict the boys (and various other residents) for rule violations. They get mixed up through various issues and adventures as they live in Los Angeles. Main cast * Kendall '''(Kendall Schmidt) - Kendall is the "proclaimed leader" of the group and is normal, understandable, and smart. According to Kelly in Big Time Audition, Kendall is tall, blond, and all eyebrows. Gustavo chose Kendall as his singer in Big Time Audition, but Kendall talked Gustavo into letting him, James, Carlos, and Logan become a singing group so he wouldn't have to leave his friends behind. Kendall was supposed to be the cliché bad boy of the band in the episode Big Time Bad Boy, but refused to succumb to a stereotype that didn't fit him (or any of the boys, for that matter). For example, in the episode Big Time Fever, Kendall is the only one in the band without "Hollywood Fever" because he is always a normal kid, and he is also the one who makes sure the guys remembers where their roots were when they had all changed from "Hollywood Fever" -- which they find out is actually just a term for home sickness. He is also known for himself ending up in awkward situations. For example, in the episode "Big Time Sparks" he would be caught with Jordin Sparks on all of the dates he sets up with Jo. In Big Time Concert, he is described as "The Complete Package", strong-headed, and hard to control. Kendall is dating Jo and they had their first kiss in "Big Time Concert." * '''James Diamond (James Maslow) - James is the pretty boy of the group who originally wanted to be a popstar. He is apparently obsessed with his hair and good looks and always keeps his lucky comb in his jacket and takes personal head shots of himself. According to Carlos in the episode Big Time Love Song, James always gets the girls: he declares himself the "pretty one." In the episode Big Time Dance James accidentally asks out several girls to the dance in an attempt to help Logan ask Camille to the dance. All of the girls said they'd go with him. James is upset when Griffin's daughter Mercedes sequentially picks everyone else in the band to be her boyfriend (and summarily dumps each one shortly thereafter) but doesn't ever pick him. But after wards, he feels better when she admits she doesn't date anyone prettier than her. James is obsessed with bandanas and always suggests wearing them, as seen in Big Time Crib. As a result of his obsession, he has an alter ego called "Bandana Man", also seen in Big Time Crib; the costume consists of wrapping himself in several purple bandanas. According to various episodes, he thinks he is "the face", but this lessens after Big Time Jobs, in which when he fails a modeling job, he says to Katie (his assistant manager) in Minnesota he was "the face", and that he is now a "handsome grain of sand on an extremely beautiful beach". He, alongside Carlos, strives to be the "Hollywood Super Party King of Hollywood", shown in Big Time Party. He is shown to get nervous before auditions (as seen in Big Time Audition when he tried stalling his audition, and in Big Time Break when he claimed to have butterflies in his stomach right before his movie audition) In Big Time Concert, he is described as extra pretty, having a solid voice, and being "driven beyond belief". * Carlos Garcia (Carlos Pena Jr.) - Carlos is the jokester of them all and always wears his hockey helmet. His dad is a cop who takes his job seriously and has gone through sensitivity training nine times. Carlos has never had a real girlfriend, although Mercedes Griffin forced him to be one of her short-lived "boyfriends" in the episode Big Time Demos. Carlos seems to be very easygoing, and whenever the others start to get into a fight, he suggests thinking "happy thoughts about kittens", as seen in Big Time Audition. He strives to be, alongside James, the "Hollywood Super Party King of Hollywood", as shown in Big Time Party. Carlos also thinks being carried by Freight Train, Gustavo's huge new bodyguard, is "kinda fun." In Big Time Concert he is described as energetic, a good dancer, and "wearing a helmet for no apparent reason". * Logan Mitchell (Logan Henderson) - Logan is the sensible one in the group. He is also the smart one of the group but panics under pressure. Whenever the others are doing something bad and they tell him to join them, he always says "I've gotta get new friends", as in the episode Big Time Audition, but still joins them afterward. Logan seems to like Camille, an actress also living at the Palm Woods. It was initially unclear if Logan knew about Camille's deep crush on him, but when she kissed him pretending it was for an audition for One Tree Hill, he said he was pleasantly surprised. Logan returned her crush, Camille being quick to forgive him when he attempted to be with her and Mercedes Griffin at the same party (Mercedes having forced him to be one of her short-lived "boyfriends", just as she had with Kendall and Carlos). When they had a school dance, Logan's first choice for a date was Camille. She, however, stated that she wished to be asked in a more memorable way. After several failed attempts, Logan showed up on a "horse" (Kendall and James in costume), and she finally agreed to be his date to the dance. Logan has a learner's permit. He is the most level-headed and realistic of the four and always sees the downside to the others' schemes. In Big Time Concert, he is described as "the smart one", and indecisive. It's also stated in 'Big Time Mansion', that he like cats. In Big Time Concert, Logan said that he wanted to be a doctor on the show. * Katie Knight (Ciara Bravo) is Kendall's precious little sister who sometimes helps the boys out. For example, in Big Time Break, when Kendall is the only one (out of the whole band) that still is determined to win the affection of a girl named Jo, Katie found out Jo was lying about having a boyfriend when she overheard a phone call between Jo and her mother. Katie revealed this to Kendall and helped him get a date with Jo. After the events in episode Big Time Dance, to Jo's surprise, Kendall revealed he thought that they were together, and now they are indeed a couple. Katie is always shown to have more tricks up her sleeve than her mother, who is portrayed as being very naive with regard to Hollywood machinations. Katie is bossy, clever and tricky, which is a big help when getting involved in the boys' plans. She is like Megan from Drake and Josh in many ways. *Mrs. Knight (Challen Cates) is the mother of Kendall and his little sister, Katie. She is a very nice mother who doesn't get mad that easily (shown in Big Time Audition) and as shown in Big Time Dance, is sensitive about dating. * Gustavo Rocque (Stephen Kramer Glickman) is a world-renowned record producer who meets the boys in Minnesota and offers Kendall a chance to come to Los Angeles with him, when Kendall turns the table around and convinces him to bring the others too. Gustavo was previously successful but hasn't had a hit in nine years, and believes the boys are his ticket back to the top. He is cliché, mean and always has a frown on his face while the boys are performing, even when he likes the song. In the episode Big Time Crib, he states that "All talent, are dogs" and calls them that; he also calls the boys "monkey dogs." Even so, when he tells the boys that a song wasn't as good as he wanted it to be, they always manage to call his bluff. He admits to liking the boys after dealing with an absolutely perfect boy band that he hated because they were so perfect, despite in Big Time Video, he briefly whispers to himself, "I hate those dogs" when they steal the set of their video for theirs. When the boys were house-sitting his mansion, they wrecked the house and had Kendall's mom clean it up (but not fully). Gustavo then accidentally wrecks his own house, but nevertheless tells the boys he likes them afterwards. Gustavo is seen to have serious anger issues and his blood pressure can skyrocket. An example is in Big Time Audition when he breaks a tea cup to pieces and destroys a few things outside after Kendall rejects his first offer. Minor cast * Arthur Griffin (Matt Riedy) is Gustavo's straight-forward boss who frequently annoys him. * Jo (Katelyn Tarver) is the first new girl at the Palm Woods , who the guys went crazy for in "Big Time Love Song", but is currently Kendall's girlfriend, as confirmed in "Big Time Dance". They finally had their first kiss in "Big Time Concert". Jo got jealous when she thought Kendall was cheating on her with Jordin Sparks in "Big Time Sparks" but she thought wrong. * Camille (Erin Sanders) is friends with the boys and is the "Method Actress Queen" at the Palm Woods hotel who according to Kendall in "Big Time Party", is somewhat crazy. She has a huge crush on Logan, and it seems he is starting to like her back. She is also friends with Jo from the Palmwoods. * Reginald/Mr. Bitters (David Anthony Higgins) is the straight-forward manager of the Palm Woods hotel who frequently cause problems to the band, & feels delight from disciplining residents, especially the boys. * Freight Train (Stephen Keys) is Gustavo's bulky enforcer, who according to him, is in charge of making people do what Gustavo says at all times and can hold all the boys at once. Freight Train is a parody of Christopher "Big Black" Boykin. * Tyler's mom (Alyssa Preston) is the mother of Tyler whose name remains unknown. She frequently pesters him about his acting career, when he just wants to be a regular kid. * Tyler (Tucker Albrizzi) is a 10-year old who, because of his annoying mother, stars in Juice-Box commercials, much to his dismay. Thanks to his friend, he is, on occasion able to hide from her. Even though it is stated that Katie has no friends in various episodes, he seems to be her friend. * Guitar Dude (Barnett O'Hara) is the well-known song writer and guitar player at the "Palm Woods" who is a former cellist before he got "Hollywood Fever", as revealed by Camille in the episode "Big Time Fever". Buddha Bob (Daran Norris) is the easy-going grounds keeper at the Palm Woods. He was mistaken as an "axe-maniac" by Mrs. Knight in "Big Time Bad Boy" and has snow making machines. * The Jennifers (Denyse Tontz 1, Spencer Locke/Kelli Goss 2, and Savannah Jayde 3) are three self-absorbed girls with the same name, who were the boys interests but is now Carlos' interest. They used to walk in normal motion, before they got "Hollywood Fever", as revealed by Camille in the episode "Big Time Fever". They also sing, act, and dance, according to Tyler in the pilot Big Time Audition, "We've seen them act and dance, but not sing". * Mercedes Griffin (Carlie Casey) is the vain, self-absorbed, rude, untruthful, and manipulating daughter of Griffin. She makes major appearances in "Big Time Demos" & "Big Time Party" and is fond of the boys, which is why she used them to start dating them by pretending to be the "secret someone who picks their demos", & threatening to choose their competition "Vampirah!" over them unless they date her, however didn't date James since she thinks people prettier than her is "out of her league". She dated Carlos and Kendall but broke up with them and dated Logan for a week but he "cheated" on her and broke up with him and made Guitar dude her boyfriend. * The Simms Twins (Tiana Madry and Tiera Madry), are two girls at the Palm Woods, first seen in "Big Time Love Song", who the guys like, although the girls get angry when their names are messed up. * Rachael (Rachel DiPillo) is the "second" new girl, first being Jo, who is fond of James, but was part of a mob that chased him out in "Big Time Dance". * Stephanie King (Tristin Mays), the third "new girl", first being Jo and second being Racheal, introduced in the episode "Big Time Terror", who frightens the boys by acting as a ghost and turns out to be actually producing her first no budget horror flick. She likes the boys, preferring them as "cute and hot", but It seems she likes Carlos more as seen in Big Time Terror and Big Time Dance. Episodes A total of 20 episodes (the first season) aired on Nickelodeon — with additional ordered episodes for the second season unaired. New episodes air on Friday nights at 8:00 pm, with occasional episode debuts on Saturday nights starting May 8, 2010. Reruns also currently air each weekend afternoon on Nickelodeon's spinoff channel, TeenNick. TV specials ''Big Time Audition'' The hour-long pilot episode, "Big Time Audition", aired as a special "sneak preview" for the series on November 28, 2009 at 8:30 p.m., following the iCarly special, "iMove Out". In the pilot, four hockey-playing teenage best friends from Minnesota get the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to become famous. It was intended for Kendall to go solo, but he refused to succumb to this chance without his best friends, so eventually Gustavo gave in and made them a singing group. They must prove to their record label they are ready for that chance. ''Big Time Concert'' The first hour-long made-for-TV season finale movie, Big Time Concert, premiered on Nickelodeon and was released on Friday, August 20, 2010 at 8:00 p.m. ET. This marked the film debut of the franchise. The boys learn about their first CD release when Griffin boosts the boys dream of being hit singers. They return to Minnesota to think about other dreams, but have come to a point where their lives have changed and decide to take control of that. They return to Los Angeles for their first concert. Right before the concert begins, Hawk kidnaps the four boys and ties them up at a private location to destroy their career. Music Nickelodeon partnered with Columbia/Epic Label Group to produce the show, which is why music and music instrumentals are incorporated throughout the series. All or most of the music videos for the singles are available on YouTube. Singles Big Time Rush's debut album, B.T.R., will be released on October 11, 2010 via Sony/Columbia.11 After the wrapping of the show's second season, Big Time Rush will be going on their first headlining tour. The tour, which has 16 scheduled stops, is set to happen in February 2011. "Til I Forget About You" was leaked onto YouTube on September 13, 2010 and was released in iTunes on September 21, 2010. ITunes is now pre-ordering B.T.R. and if you pre-oreder on iTunes you get the full versions of "This Is Our Someday" and "Stuck" but only if you pre-order. Several songs featured in the show, including "Shot In The Dark", "Stuck", "This Is Our Someday" and have yet to air in their full versions. Several songs, such as, "One In a Million", "Worldwide","Nothing Even Matters" and "Paralyzed" have yet to be featured on the show. Music Video Video:Big Time Rush - Til I Forget About You|Til I Forget About You (Sing by Big time Rush) Video:Big Time Rush - Any Kind Of Guy|Any Kind of Guy (Sing by Big Time Rush) Video:Big Time Rush - Famous|Famous (Sing by Big Time Rush) Video:Big Time Rush - City Is Ours|City Is Ours (Sing by Big Time Rush) Production Production notes The series was conceived and created by Scott Fellows, formerly the creator, executive producer and showrunner of Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide. Fellows says his inspiration for the show was the 1960s musical comedy show, The Monkees- a popular and culturally significant American television series about a group of four young male adults who form a rock band and perform songs while having comedic adventures. Although the show had a concept as early as 2007, the series had no actual title as late as August 2009. Nickelodeon partnered with Columbia/Epic Label Group to produce the show, which will incorporate original music into the series. Big Time Rush is one of the three Nickelodeon shows (the others are iCarly and Victorious) on which the cable network is partnering with the music group to promote music as well as shows. The four actors will sing in a band whose name will be "Big Time Rush." The first single from the show, "Big Time Rush" (the series theme song), was released in November 2009. Additional songs will be released throughout the show's first season. The Los Angeles Times has been critical of the show's focus on music, noting: “ There is a marketing angle, to be sure, the same crossing of the revenue streams that powers "Hannah Montana" and "American Idol" and "Glee," and whose conceptual forerunner was "The Monkees"—television shows that function as elaborate advertisements for music that in turn advertises the TV show. "Big Time Rush," which has more than a little of "The Monkees" in its makeup, was developed with Sony Music specifically to move units. ” The show incorporate, during the closing credits of each episode exclusively in Nickelodeon airings, "short previews" of music videos of each single from the series that have yet to air in their full versions, and occasionally features premieres of full versions of music videos of the singles. The show also incorporate cartoon-like noises, music, and editing cuts designed to make it more humorous; this was also a trademark of series creator Scott Fellows' previous Nickelodeon series Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide. It is targeted primarily at children age 6 to 18. Casting A nationwide casting effort began in 2007. More than 1,500 teens and young adults auditioned for the four roles. Kendall Schmidt was the last actor cast, and the most difficult role to cast. Filming of the series began in August 2009. Actor Carlos Pena, Jr. previously worked with creator/producer Scott Fellows on Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide. Although he was reluctant to do so (he had just entered the Boston Conservatory to study music), Pena submitted an audition tape and won the role a month later. Executive Producer Scott Fellows was inspired to write each character by the personality of the actor playing him. Filming locations The series is filmed in Los Angeles, California in Hollywood. Though the series will have an extension in location at times, it mostly takes place at the fictional "Palm Woods" and "Rocque Records" (where the Big Time Rush records at, and frequently get into conflicts as well). The series first one-hour special (in some aspects, a movie) is the first episode to take place in the suburbs of Los Angeles. Theme song and opening sequence Reception Audience reception A one-hour special preview (which serves as the series pilot and first episode) debuted on Nickelodeon on November 28, 2009, drawing an audience of 3.5 million viewers. The series' official premiere on January 18, 2010 (which followed the premiere of the iCarly special "iSaved Your Life"), was watched by a total of 6.8 million viewers, in which as a result, made the series Nickelodeon's highest-rated live-action series debut. Ratings The ratings rose after the television debut, with the episode, Big Time School of Rocque, on Monday January 18, 2010 at 8:30 p.m. ET drew a total of 6.8 million viewers, Nickelodeon's highest rated live-action series premiere. The series became Nickelodeon's second highest rated sitcoms after less than a month on the air, behind iCarly. Each episode's debut routinely draws an average of more than three million viewers. Since its debut, the show maintains a loyal fan base and has recently experienced a resurgence of popularity after less than a month on the air. Awards In Australia's Kids Choice Awards, Big Time Rush was nominated for two awards, Favorite International Band and Favorite TV Star. Big Time Rush was also nominated for two additional awards for the "Teen Icon Awards", "Iconic TV Show" and "Iconic Triple Threat". DVD release A DVD was to be released on August 10, with six episodes, music videos, and more, but it was canceled, according to Amazon.com. The official full Season one DVD is scheduled to be released on March 1, 2011. Broadcast Broadcast history External links * Official Big Time Rush (band website) * IMDb's Big Time Rush * * Big Time Rush on Nick.com * Big Time Rush Facebook Page * Big Time Rush MySpace Page * Big Time Rush on MTV.com * http://www.amazon.com/Til-I-Forget-About-You/dp/B00433E7CW/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1284946793&sr=1-9 Category:Live-action shows on Nickelodeon Category:Shows on Nickelodeon de:Big Time Rush nl:Big Time Rush